Hi my name is Nicholas Totonchy. I was born in Boston MA. Things I like are playing basketball, soccer and tennis. My favorite subject is biology and I aspire to become a doctor or surgeon. I currently am in my second year of private school. I formerly went to public school one year ago. I have a Boston Terrier called Duke and he's pretty chill, so we're cool.
Nicholas Totonchy
08/03/16
J. Dixon
Bio Technology
Research Paper on the Purification of Salt Water via Bacterium
Problem: I am privileged to have food on a plate, clean water to drink and a roof over my head. Yet in many places in our world today, there are many people who unfortunately don't have food, shelter or even just clean water to drink from. In Africa or South America people get sick from drinking dirty water. Also in those areas the climate is very hot, so the ground has very low saturation of water, resulting in barely any drinking water. Water is crucial for survival, so if there is lack of water in a certain area, the people in those areas will die. I asked myself why we should be working so hard to use water in the ground just to have less in the future?
In order to begin to solve this complex problem, scientists first must create the bacterium that will be used in the purification process. The bacterium will be created using the genes of a nephron. A nephron is a cell that is found in the human body in the kidney organs. The function of a nephron is to regulate water and soluble substances by filtering blood, and reabsorbing what is needed and excreting the rest as urine (http://www.kidneyhealthcare.com/2010/12/nephron-structure-function-nephron.html). When purifying salt water, the nephron is the ideal unit that performs the necessary function for the purification process. Nephrons can be made available for the process through kidney donors. After identifying the nephron as the unit with the desirable genes, scientists will take the genes from the nephron and place them in a bacterium host. The host for the purification process can be any commonly used bacterium, for instance, E. Coli.
Once the genes have been separated from the nephron, the residue is pipetted into a tube containing a microfilter. A microfilter is a pore-sized membrane that separates micro-organisms and suspended particles from processed liquids or residue. Microfilters have a range of applications such as sterilization, dairy processing, petroleum refining, and last but not least, water treatment (http://www.lenntech.com/microfiltration-and-ultrafiltration.htm). All by-products other than the DNA will collect at the bottom of the tube containing the filter.
Once the nephron gene has been microfiltered, it is necessary to begin cloning the DNA from the nephron in order to have many bacterium utilizing the gene from the nephron. One method to clone DNA is through a Polymerase Chain Reaction. Polymerase Chain Reaction is a technique used in molecular biology to amplify a single copy or a few copies of a piece of DNA across several "orders of magnitude", this generates thousands to millions of copies of a particular sequence. For our purposes, we will be copying the sequence of the gene that allows nephrons to perform the filtering function. The technique involves repeated heating and cooling of the reaction for DNA melting, and replication of the DNA. Primers correspond with the DNA polymerase to create complementary sequences from the DNA of the nephron (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/probe/docs/techpcr/).
After waiting overnight, the copies of the DNA will be ready for use. Then, the cloned DNS can be swabbed into the E. Coli host. This can be done in a Petri dish. Once the DNA is swabbed into the E. Coli, the E. Cold will absorb the DNA. The cell membrane of the bacteria will allow the DNA to pass through and enter the cell. The bacteria will now acquire the gene of the nephron which the DNA was collected from earlier.
Now that the E. Coli has the gene from the nephrons in the cell, they must be placed in the ocean water. Depending on how much purified water you choose to make, the ratio will differ. With a ratio, it is possible to take small scale purification of sea water and increase the amount of drinkable water as the end result by executing this on a larger scale. However, the ratio is: per 1000 grams of sea water, 35 grams are salts; out of the 35 grams of salt, 55% is chloride, 30.6% is sodium, 7.7% is sulfate, 3.65% is magnesium, 1.17% is calcium, and 1.13% is potassium (in class notes). The E. Coli will filter these salts and will release a by-product similar to urine. Then, the sea water containing the bacterium can now be put through a common bacteria filter, which will take the urine like by-product released by the bacteria, and the bacteria out of the sea water. This leaves behind distilled water as the result of the removal of the bacterium and its' by-product. At this final step of the process, minerals such as Magnesium, Chloride, and Calcium will be added to the distilled water for taste. This makes the water clean and more appetizing to drink.
While the purification of sea water by bacterium seems like a solution to the world's problem of limited drinking water sources, there are also many negative impacts this process can have. One consequence of gene modification to the bacterium used to purify salt water is the fact that the bacterium have been altered. When the bacterium reproduce, their offspring will also contain the gene that allows them to filter sea water. This can be problematic if the bacterium containing the altered DNA becomes dominant in the species. Another consequence of purifying sea water with bacterium is that countries may begin relying on sea water as a source of drinking water. This could begin to kill plant life that thrives in the ocean such as coral reefs. From a business perspective, companies that used to sell bottled water may end up switching to purifying salt water in order to produce more drinkable bottled water to sell. If done incorrectly, this purification method can result in people having E. Coli in their drinking water. If third-world countries end up relying on this method as a source of drinking water, since they do not have easy access to drinking water, this could compromise their health. Although, many third world countries may not even be able to rely on this method for purifying ocean water for their consumption. This method described above is meant to be used on a small scale. If it were to be used on a larger scale, for example, by bottled water companies, the cost of purifying the sea water using this method would be far too expensive for third world countries to afford. Additionally, politicians and governments of different countries might have different motives of interests in keeping under-developed countries from having access to clean drinking water, despite the inhumanity of that situation. Therefore, there could be negative legal implications or lobbying in governments against the purification of ocean water by bacterium.
In conclusion, the problem of access to drinking water can be solved by purification via bacterium. This process is not extremely complicated, and easy for bio technologists to replicate. Purifying sea water for public consumption broadens our resources and greatly impacts people living in countries with limited access to drinking water. Bio technology has such enormous potential to effect our lives in every aspect; for example, consumption of clean drinking water, something that is crucial for life to exist.
Nicholas Totonchy
08/03/16
J. Dixon
Bio Technology
Research Paper on the Purification of Salt Water via Bacterium
Problem: I am privileged to have food on a plate, clean water to drink and a roof over my head. Yet in many places in our world today, there are many people who unfortunately don't have food, shelter or even just clean water to drink from. In Africa or South America people get sick from drinking dirty water. Also in those areas the climate is very hot, so the ground has very low saturation of water, resulting in barely any drinking water. Water is crucial for survival, so if there is lack of water in a certain area, the people in those areas will die. I asked myself why we should be working so hard to use water in the ground just to have less in the future?
In order to begin to solve this complex problem, scientists first must create the bacterium that will be used in the purification process. The bacterium will be created using the genes of a nephron. A nephron is a cell that is found in the human body in the kidney organs. The function of a nephron is to regulate water and soluble substances by filtering blood, and reabsorbing what is needed and excreting the rest as urine (http://www.kidneyhealthcare.com/2010/12/nephron-structure-function-nephron.html). When purifying salt water, the nephron is the ideal unit that performs the necessary function for the purification process. Nephrons can be made available for the process through kidney donors. After identifying the nephron as the unit with the desirable genes, scientists will take the genes from the nephron and place them in a bacterium host. The host for the purification process can be any commonly used bacterium, for instance, E. Coli.
Once the genes have been separated from the nephron, the residue is pipetted into a tube containing a microfilter. A microfilter is a pore-sized membrane that separates micro-organisms and suspended particles from processed liquids or residue. Microfilters have a range of applications such as sterilization, dairy processing, petroleum refining, and last but not least, water treatment (http://www.lenntech.com/microfiltration-and-ultrafiltration.htm). All by-products other than the DNA will collect at the bottom of the tube containing the filter.
Once the nephron gene has been microfiltered, it is necessary to begin cloning the DNA from the nephron in order to have many bacterium utilizing the gene from the nephron. One method to clone DNA is through a Polymerase Chain Reaction. Polymerase Chain Reaction is a technique used in molecular biology to amplify a single copy or a few copies of a piece of DNA across several "orders of magnitude", this generates thousands to millions of copies of a particular sequence. For our purposes, we will be copying the sequence of the gene that allows nephrons to perform the filtering function. The technique involves repeated heating and cooling of the reaction for DNA melting, and replication of the DNA. Primers correspond with the DNA polymerase to create complementary sequences from the DNA of the nephron (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/probe/docs/techpcr/).
After waiting overnight, the copies of the DNA will be ready for use. Then, the cloned DNS can be swabbed into the E. Coli host. This can be done in a Petri dish. Once the DNA is swabbed into the E. Coli, the E. Cold will absorb the DNA. The cell membrane of the bacteria will allow the DNA to pass through and enter the cell. The bacteria will now acquire the gene of the nephron which the DNA was collected from earlier.
Now that the E. Coli has the gene from the nephrons in the cell, they must be placed in the ocean water. Depending on how much purified water you choose to make, the ratio will differ. With a ratio, it is possible to take small scale purification of sea water and increase the amount of drinkable water as the end result by executing this on a larger scale. However, the ratio is: per 1000 grams of sea water, 35 grams are salts; out of the 35 grams of salt, 55% is chloride, 30.6% is sodium, 7.7% is sulfate, 3.65% is magnesium, 1.17% is calcium, and 1.13% is potassium (in class notes). The E. Coli will filter these salts and will release a by-product similar to urine. Then, the sea water containing the bacterium can now be put through a common bacteria filter, which will take the urine like by-product released by the bacteria, and the bacteria out of the sea water. This leaves behind distilled water as the result of the removal of the bacterium and its' by-product. At this final step of the process, minerals such as Magnesium, Chloride, and Calcium will be added to the distilled water for taste. This makes the water clean and more appetizing to drink.
While the purification of sea water by bacterium seems like a solution to the world's problem of limited drinking water sources, there are also many negative impacts this process can have. One consequence of gene modification to the bacterium used to purify salt water is the fact that the bacterium have been altered. When the bacterium reproduce, their offspring will also contain the gene that allows them to filter sea water. This can be problematic if the bacterium containing the altered DNA becomes dominant in the species. Another consequence of purifying sea water with bacterium is that countries may begin relying on sea water as a source of drinking water. This could begin to kill plant life that thrives in the ocean such as coral reefs. From a business perspective, companies that used to sell bottled water may end up switching to purifying salt water in order to produce more drinkable bottled water to sell. If done incorrectly, this purification method can result in people having E. Coli in their drinking water. If third-world countries end up relying on this method as a source of drinking water, since they do not have easy access to drinking water, this could compromise their health. Although, many third world countries may not even be able to rely on this method for purifying ocean water for their consumption. This method described above is meant to be used on a small scale. If it were to be used on a larger scale, for example, by bottled water companies, the cost of purifying the sea water using this method would be far too expensive for third world countries to afford. Additionally, politicians and governments of different countries might have different motives of interests in keeping under-developed countries from having access to clean drinking water, despite the inhumanity of that situation. Therefore, there could be negative legal implications or lobbying in governments against the purification of ocean water by bacterium.
In conclusion, the problem of access to drinking water can be solved by purification via bacterium. This process is not extremely complicated, and easy for bio technologists to replicate. Purifying sea water for public consumption broadens our resources and greatly impacts people living in countries with limited access to drinking water. Bio technology has such enormous potential to effect our lives in every aspect; for example, consumption of clean drinking water, something that is crucial for life to exist.
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